1. Together Everyone Achieves More
Suggested strategies
Together Everyone Achieves More

2. Suggested strategies:
Never praise by telling your child they are smart or clever. Instead praise what the child has done.
“it is wonderful that you have learned how to add numbers”
“wow you can add numbers, you are so smart.”

3. Suggested strategies:
Never share stories of maths failure or even a dislike.
Always seem happy or even thrilled when you see maths!

4. Suggested strategies:
Praise mistakes. Tell children that their brains are growing when they make them.

5. Suggested strategies:
Encourage children to work on problems that are challenging for them so that they can make mistakes.
Encourage children to have a go first without help.
Struggle is really important- tell them that

6. Suggested strategies:
Do not lead them through work step by step:
Jimmy started with 12 sweets. He gave some to Janice, and then he had 8 sweets. How many did he give to Janice?
Jimmy started with 12 and now has 8 so what is 12 take away 8?

7. Suggested strategies:
Encourage drawing whenever you can.
The whole of maths can be taught visually!
Restate problems in their own words

8. Encourage number sense/flexibility
8+6

9. Suggested strategies:
Encourage number sense/flexibility

10. Suggested strategies:
Encourage children to make sense of maths at all times.
Discourage guessing. Keep asking “does this make sense to you? Why or Why not?”
Is that a guess?

11. Suggested strategies:
Questions to discourage guessing:
What is the question asking you?
How could you draw this question?
How did you get the answer?
Can you share your method with me?
Can you try a different way of solving this?

12. Suggested strategies:
Give children mathematical puzzles to solve
Play games- any game with a dice

13. Recommended resources
Play Games:
Place value Safari
Blokus
Mancala
Yahtzee
Mastermind
Guess Who?
More games and puzzles are available on

14. Recommended resources
Puzzles:

15. Recommended resources
Books:
Bolt, B Cambridge Univesity Press
The Amazing Mathematical Amusement Arcade
Mathematical Cavalcade
A Mathematical Pandora’s Box
A Mathematical Jamboree

16. Recommended resources
Research:
Jo Boaler- Professor of Mathematics Education at the Stanford youcubed.org
Carol Dweck- Professor of Psychology at Stanford University
Barry Hymer (Growth Mindset Pocket book)
Sugata Mitra -

17. Do not underestimate the power of your words and actions to inspire or defeat your child in Maths.